Backtracker (68 page)

"
Billy dropped into a lake!
That
sure convinced him he wasn
'
t dreaming!
"
Again, Larry slung a burst of laughter from the crevice.

"
Anyway,
"
he continued, grinning and chuckling,
"
once he got himself out of that lake, he found out where he was...and
it was Cross Creek State Park,
of all places!

"
Well
.
Right then and there, he
knew
what was going on. He knew
where
he was, and
he had
a damn good idea of
when
he was. There weren
'
t any other
explanations
,
y
'
know?

"
His
prayers
had been
answered
!

"
Somehow, he
'
d gotten through to the Man Upstairs! God had waited till practically the last minute, but He
'
d finally come through! He
'
d given Billy a second chance!

"
He
'
d given
me
a
second chance!
"

*****

Chapter
30

Larry Smith was still grinning.

His features shone with a blissful light, an ecstatic radiance. He stood transfigured in the trench with arms spread wide, fists clenched victoriously.

"
A second chance
!
"
he shouted, his voice and attitude like those of a preacher praising heavenly hosts.

"
A second chance
!
"
he boomed exuberantly, lunging a step forward, a step away from the body in the dirt.

Frozen and stupefied, Dave Heinrich listened from above. He
didn
'
t
share Larry
'
s delight; while Larry beamed and bounded, Dave remained silent and paralyzed, virtually lifeless. His gears were locked; his systems had been scrambled and deactivated.
He'd
been drastically overloaded, and the chaotic input continued to shower him.

"
I
'
d been sent back
!
"
piped Larry, emphatically waving his fists.
"
I
'
d been sent back in
time
, to
now
,
to
here
!
Can you
imagine
that?

"
Billy
'
s life...
my
life had been
hell
!
I
'
d lost everything, done it all wrong, and now I had a
chance
again! I
'
d been sent back to when it all started, and now I could
change
things!

"
I knew
exactly
what I had to do
!
"
crowed Larry, slapping a fist into his palm.
"
For months, for
years
,
I
'
d planned it all out! I
'
d gone over it so often in my dreams that it was like I
'
d already
done
it hundreds of times!

"
I
knew
what to
do
!
"
sang Larry, his flushed, excited face glowing like a candle in the shadows of the crevice.
"
I
knew
how to make things
right
again!
"

Chest and shoulders pumping with accelerated breath, Larry paused for a moment, beaming upward as if hoping to see that Dave shared his elation; Dave just retained the same baffled, disturbed frown that
he'd
held since the start of the story.

Larry shook his head disappointedly and cast his gaze downward. When next he looked up, his expression was slightly changed; he still grinned, but not as broadly as before, and his face had lost some of its absolute rapture.

"
Of course, I had to kill some people,
"
he shrugged, and his voice was a bit more subdued.
"
It was the only way to really change things, though.

"
How else could I be
sure
?
I mean,
think
about it. You
'
re miraculously sent back in time, and you have a chance to turn your whole
life
around...but it
'
s probably the
only
chance you
'
ll
get
!
You have to be
sure
you
'
ll do some good!

"
Are you going to spend your time running around, hoping you can head off each disaster before it happens? You might pull your younger self out of danger, keep him away from certain people at a crucial time...but how do you
know
he won
'
t meet up with those same people
later
and repeat your mistakes when you
'
re not around to
guide
him? You don
'
t know how
long
you
'
ll
be
there, either! For all you know, you could be sent away after a
day
,
or a couple
hours
!
Whatever you do, you have to do it
quickly
,
and you need to make sure it
'
ll be
permanent
!

"
That
'
s why I had to kill. I had to be sure that the changes would take hold, that my younger self would
never
get into the same trouble with the same people.

"
I know it
'
s impossible to make sure that nothing bad will
ever
happen. Once I
'
ve made changes, I know my younger self could run into
new
problems, things I can
'
t predict. Still, by eliminating the mistakes I know of, at least I
'
m giving him a better shot at a good life.

"
I bet you
'
d do the same thing if you were in my shoes,
"
said Larry, lifting an eyebrow and nodding.
"
It might seem pretty awful to you right now, but once you
'
ve been through what
I
'
ve
been through, things look different.

"
Everything has a price. The price of my future...
Billy
'
s
future...is pretty steep, but I
'
m willing to pay it. After you think it over some, I think you
'
ll have to agree that
'
s fair.
"

Larry fell silent. He peered up at Dave as if waiting for a response of some kind, but Dave
didn
'
t
cooperate; he
didn
'
t
say a word,
didn
'
t
even twitch.

After a moment, Larry finally sighed and clapped his hands together.
"
Anyway, I
'
ve killed some people,
"
he said lightly.

"
First thing I did was get rid of the girl, the one Billy would
'
ve gotten pregnant and married. Right off the bat, the same night I arrived, I got her out of the way. She was the one who
'
d started it all, so I took care of her immediately.

"
After I
'
d killed her, I got a job at the steakhouse. I blackmailed Tom Martin into hiring me, told him I
'
d tell Fred about his embezzling if he didn
'
t do what I said.

"
You
'
re probably wondering why I bothered to get in the steakhouse at all. Well, for one thing, I needed the money. When I came back in time, I didn
'
t bring any
cash
with me. I was taken right from a cell on Death Row, remember?

"
I needed to support myself for as long as I
'
d be here. Working at the steakhouse would also put me close to some people I planned to deal with. I had to stake out Ernie
'
s parents and Tom Martin, hammer out the details of when and how I
'
d take them. At Wild West, I could keep tabs on Tom and get information from Ernie about his folks
'
comings and goings.

"
I also wanted to get in with the old gang. One of the things I
'
d planned to do was save Boris Blovitz...just because I
could
, I guess, even though his suicide wasn
'
t one of the main things that
'
d dragged me down. In order to save him, I had to be at the party where he was going to kill himself. I also figured I
'
d need one of you to talk him out of the suicide, since he wouldn
'
t know me at the age I am now.

"
Not only that,
"
said Larry, smiling sheepishly,
"
but I...I
wanted
to be in with the old gang again. I wanted to relive some of the good times. I didn
'
t know...I
don
'
t
know what
'
ll happen to
me
when this is all over. If I change the past, will I go on living here, or will I be sent to a new future, or the same one, or will I just...fade away? I don
'
t know.
"
Larry hesitated, stared at the sky...then sighed and shrugged.

"
Anyway, I just wanted to steal a little happiness with my old buddies...my old self. I couldn
'
t resist.

"
I don
'
t regret it, either...except maybe that I got a little too close to you. Even that...well, it can
'
t be helped. If anyone had to find out the truth, I
'
m glad it was my best friend.
"
Larry smiled warmly at Dave, seemed genuinely moved; Dave remained silent and frozen.

"
Well,
"
Larry said briskly.
"
I got my job at Wild West. I
'
d killed the girl, and I was ready to move ahead.

"
Next, I went after the guy who
'
d stolen my true love...the big shot who snapped her up when she left me. He
'
d taken away my last chance at her, and he
'
d even
married
her eventually.

"
Name was Steve Kimmel. That
'
s right...
Roger
Kimmel
'
s son, as in the Kimmel Corporation. Probably the richest little bastard in this half of the state. No wonder he got the girl I should have had.

"
Well,
this
time around, he won
'
t get her. He
'
ll never even
meet
her, thanks to me. Once Billy falls in love with her, not only won
'
t he have that other girl around to tempt him, but he won
'
t have to worry about Steve Kimmel taking her away.
"
Larry shook his head and grinned with great satisfaction.

"
After I got Kimmel,
"
he continued,
"
I got you to stop Boris from killing himself. I knew exactly when and where he would do it, so it was just a matter of taking you to him at the right time.

"
I have to admit, I was really impressed by how you talked him out of it. I mean, you had
no
idea what you were in for when I took you into the woods, but you still had enough on the ball to save your friend
'
s life.
My
friend
'
s life.

"
He
'
s only walking around today because of
you
,
y
'
know,
"
nodded Larry.
"
I may have tipped you off, but
you
did all the work, Dave...just like I knew you would.
"

Still frozen on the rim of the cleft, Dave Heinrich said nothing.

Larry cleared his throat.
"
After you saved Boris,
"
he continued,
"
I killed Ernie
'
s parents.

"
I almost couldn
'
t bring myself to do it. They
'
d never done anything to hurt me. They didn
'
t deserve to die.